And in the US Senate, debate continues about shredding what’s left of the 4th Amendment, oh, excuse me, I meant debate about the new Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, [FISA….] silly me! The ACLU’s Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office had this to say on Firedoglake.com {http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/29/}

Hello everybody!

As you all probably know, recently the, the House passed the “RESTORE Act” on partisan lines. The bill made some improvements in the “Protect America Act” that was rushed through Congress in August. Most importantly, it reasserted the intelligence court’s role in approving surveillance before it takes place — a lot of the improvement was due to the concerted efforts of the Progressive Caucus, and Congressman Rush Holt, bolstered by grassroots and netroots pressure.

Maybe Chicken Little is right, the sky IS falling! I don’t know about you but the news about the resignation of Citigroup CEO Charles Prince, [who will no doubt exit the crisis with his pockets stuffed…] coming on the heels of an announced loss over at Merrilly-Lynched of about 8 BILLION DOLLARS, is starting to sound more and more like the dam is slowly breaking apart. I’m no Paul Krugman or Thomas Friedman economist type….but the creaking I hear sure don’t sound good.

On Sunday, the chairman and chief exec of Citigroup, Inc., Charles Prince, threw in his ATM card and stepped down — this as the bank announced it would probably have to write off 11 BILLION dollars in subprime mortgage losses……now, if this sounds a bit like old news, it may be because Citicorp just wrote down 6.5 BILLION lastquarter

The article below is cribbed from a blog I came up on called FoxAttacks. com {http://foxattacks.com/blog/}. If Bill Oroily and Slam Hammity make yer skin crawl then this site gives you ammo to use when your cousin Henrietta and her husband Six Pack Joe stop by and try to convert you over dinner. Faux News continues to serve up some of the most inane drivel disguised as “news” while at the same time promoting a borderline neo-fascist poopaganda war with their talk shows . Worth a minute or five of your time.

Meetings with President [of Syria] Assad lead the Assad government to believe they’re part of the mainstream of the international community, when, in fact, they’re a state sponsor of terror

Cheney called Pelosi’s trip “counterproductive” and that Assad’s “bad behavior’s being rewarded in a sense.” White House liar spokeswoman Dana Perino said:

I know that Assad probably really wants people to come and have a photo opportunity and have tea with him, and have discussions about where they’re coming from, but we do think that’s a really bad idea.

[Pelosi] going to a state which is without question a sponsor of terror, and having her picture taken with Assad and being seen in a headscarfand so forth is sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and to the people of the Middle East…I just don’t know what got into her head, to be completely honest with you. I think it was a huge, huge mistake.

A ninth grader in a suburban Washington DC classroom is delighted to be excused from Algebra class to spend a half hour shooting a life-like 9 MM pistol and lobbing explosive ordinance from an M1A2 Abrams tank simulator. At the same time 3,000 miles away in La Habra, California, a 15 year-old girl is released from English class to squeeze off rounds from a very real looking M-16 rifle. The kids thoroughly enjoy the experience, especially the part about getting out of class.

The two students have experienced the Army’s Adventure Van, a 60-foot, 30-ton 18-wheeler with several interactive exhibits that bring an adrenaline rush and glorify weaponry and combat. The Army’s 19 vans frequent various community events and two thousand schools a year, generating more than 63,000 recruiter leads. In addition to the Adventure Van, the Army has three other 18-wheelers for recruiting purposes. The Aviation Recruiting Van contains an AH 64 Helicopter flight simulator and an interactive air warrior and weapons display.

The American Soldier Adventure Van has an interactive air/land warrior display and a future warrior display. The Army Marksmanship Trainer has an interactive rifle range. (more…)

It’s Saturday, at the 2nd Street Market, and I’m talking to one of the vendors when I hear a muffled hello. Turning, I see the HAT moving down the aisle…it’s Mayor McLin. Taking the opportunity in hand, I walk up and tell her, “I am very glad for the stand that you took Wed at the City Commission meeting in the anti-discrimination ordinance “debate”. ” Smiling broadly, she replied, “Oh, thank you so much”. Ms McLin acknowledged that there had been quite bit of pressure brought to bear on the Commission, but, that she and the other members who voted for the ordinance had concluded the time for discussion was over and a decision needed to be made. I’ll make mention that I was not the only one to make a positive comment on this issue to her. Politics in the air at the Market!

Some may dismiss this slight woman as a “figurehead” mayor, but in my estimation it took a quite a bit of extra spine/courage to stand up to the Interdenominational Ministers Alliance’s assault on the ordinance. This same cabal has opposed progressive initiatives based on questions of sexuality for years. They seem to have a degree of credibility that may not be justified by the actual numbers of their followers, which I think is an open question. And, I don’t mean being able to get 30-40 people to attend a city commission meeting…maybe that is everybody you represent? Those in the “know” about Dayton’s semi-underground political culture are fully aware of the checkered past of some of the leaders of this group and that, in part, is why the extra spine displayed Wed needs to be applauded. (more…)

Monday, November 19, 2007;
As Pakistan descends into political chaos, much attention has been given to two leaders competing for power — the current dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and the media-savvy former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. The White House appears to be backing Musharraf as its best bet in the “war on terror,” while much of the world’s media and Western liberal elite see Bhutto as a democratic savior for a country mired in Islamic fundamentalism.

Both fail to recognize the core problem plaguing Pakistani society: Without a strong and independent judiciary, Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, will forever be at the mercy of dictators and power-hungry politicians. Lack of oversight and institutional accountability leads to coups, counter-coups and perpetual instability.

As an artist and social activist, I have worked with the governments of both Musharraf and Bhutto on peace initiatives and socially uplifting themes. I have been disillusioned by their lack of commitment to getting real work done; they appear to spend most of their time consolidating their power bases. (more…)

After five years of being mostly in L.A. where Thanksgiving generally happens under the harshest of desert suns, I am back home in New York, which pleases me. I was considering sharing my mother’s marvelous and slightly eccentric recipe for turkey, bathed in garlic and a good olive oil and cooked in a brown paper bag, which is not to be opened until the bird is cooked. I have done it many times, to (first) the bafflement and worry, and then (inevitable) pleasure of friends, and it always produces a gorgeous and succulent bird. I’ll save it for next year.

At Passover, I am the one who causes the trouble, and asks unpleasant questions about the current iteration of the land of milk and honey. So you can tell where this is going, regarding the giving of thanks. If you are lucky enough to share the day with friends and family, there is usually a moment where you take in the gathered, the noise, the remains of the meal, kids, dogs, parents, all more or less equally sedated, and sort of smile. You smile at the good fortune of being with people you love, and have known for a very long time. At the safety of it. In my case, there is much to be grateful for. Health, faculties more or less intact, sense of humor more or less intact, and a small measure of financial security for now. So without turning Thanksgiving into some sort of secular Yom Kippur (one is enough, really), a little accounting is in order between the glazed yams and the turkey sandwich the next day. (more…)

As you know, California Counts — a cabal of right-wing political operatives linked to Rudy Giuliani — is working hard to steal the White House (again) in 2008. They want to fool California voters into changing the rules so Giuliani — or some other regressive Republican presidential nominee — can rob at least 20 Electoral College votes from California next November.

When Steven Attewell, an eagle-eyed member of the blog Daily Kos, alerted me that California Counts petition-gatherers at UC Santa Barbara were gathering signatures to help “children with cancer,” I headed out to investigate.

And, sure enough, when I looked carefully at what they wanted me to sign, I noticed that “children with cancer” was just a sneaky tactic to get people to sign the so-called “Electoral College Reform Initiative” — what we call the dirty trick initiative.

Now, Secretary of State Debra Bowen is considering whether to open an investigation — if enough of us come forward with stories like what I saw at UCSB.

This just in from my friend Maddi, who has been keeping me up to date with news of her old friend Phil Donahue’s work on his documentary about Iraq called BODY OF WAR.
With a theme song written & performed by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vetter, the film made it’s debut at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year.

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 80th Academy Awards®. Seventy pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The Documentary Branch screening committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of votings. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

The 80th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT.

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The following link will take to you to a 10 min. video that features interview with Phil Donahue and a clip of Eddie Vetter’s theme song, No More War